History of Medicine

History of Medicine is organized by University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Date & Location:
Wednesday, September 1, 2021, 12:00 AM - Sunday, September 1, 2024, 12:00 PM

Description:
This course traces 40 thousand years of medical history. Through it you will learn how we happen to know what we know in medicine, nursing, dentistry and other forms o healthcare, why we do what we do, and where we are likely to be in the future. It will show you why modern medical knowledge is neither universal nor timeless, but tied to particular cultural and temporal moments. During the course, the transience of medical truths emerges, whereby certain concepts come into being and attain the status of scientific facts, only to be unmade as facts, frequently with greater difficulty than they were made.

Objectives:
At the end of this activity, learners will be able to:
• Discuss the origin of medicine and the role men and women played in shaping the history of medical science
• Describe the historical perspectives on the development of medical practices related to diagnosis, therapeutics, surgery, nursing dentistry, pharmacy, and  psychiatry and lessons learned that are applicable to current clinical practice
• Discuss how the science of medicine, nursing, dentistry and pharmacy has advanced in a non-linear fashion, largely by trial and error, from ancient times to present.